Tufts Blogs

As your freshman winter break commences and anecdotes of new experiences are shared between high school besties, you may feel differently than those around you. You may not-so-readily be able to associate happiness with the school you currently attend. Maybe you haven’t found peers you click with, maybe you realized you hate freezing weather, maybe you found a passion that your current institution doesn’t specialize in. Regardless of your reason, feeling out of place can be incredibly unsettling, especially when those around you seem to have found their niche.

It is hard to grapple with the thought of uprooting yourself from somewhere you expected to love and going through the college application process again. It is hard to make change and realize what is best for you. However, if you find yourself unhappy with your current college, be brave and take charge. Because, ultimately, your happiness takes precedence over all else.  

I realized this only after an entire year off from college.

About halfway through the second semester of my freshman year, my parents suggested that I look at other colleges. “Ludicrous!” I thought. I knew I wasn’t happy, but if I made it through almost a whole year, I would be able to suck it up for three more. Besides, I was doing incredibly well in my courses and my academic success (to me) justified a poor experience.

The easy thing to do would have been to stay, but as I started to look at different college websites and explore the world of transferring, I realized that I deserved more than a subpar college experience (because college is an experience beyond academics). As I explained in my transfer essay, “There is more to life than academics—there is enriching social experience, personal growth and discovery; there is the world beyond my textbooks. There are streets to run on, museums to roam through, café’s to munch at, street art to ponder, theories and opinions to question, life to reflect on.”

All of the things I wrote above (and more), I have been able to find here at Tufts. It definitely hasn’t been a walk in the park (which I can explain another time), but it has been an incredible experience thus far.

If you have sensations of unhappiness or confusion or unease, I urge you to take control and start looking into the transfer process. It is hard, but it is worth it. Prioritize your happiness.